Actress Emma Thompson has joined activists outside the headquarters of Shell to celebrate news that the oil giant is pulling out of drilling in the Arctic.

Greenpeace has been protesting against the company’s attempts to explore for fossil fuels off the coast of Alaska, including parking a double-decker bus-sized polar bear puppet outside the company’s London HQ for the last month.

The company said it would cease exploration in the region for the foreseeable future after failing to find sufficient signs of oil and gas to make further exploration worthwhile, blaming high costs and a “challenging and unpredictable regulatory environment”.read more

HOUSTON — Royal Dutch Shell’s oil unit in Malaysia said it will cut 1,300 jobs, or about 20 percent of its Malaysian workforce, over the next two years as it restructures itself.

Shell Malaysia said Tuesday it is trying to become a more efficient company but gave few details beyond disclosing the coming staff reductions. It said it has made “adjustments” to its upstream portfolio but didn’t elaborate.

“Shell Malaysia is preparing itself to be more competitive in a low oil price environment,” Shell Malaysia Chairman Iain Lo said in a written statement. “Continuing business as usual is not sustainable. We are taking difficult, but necessary action.”read more

Shell and First Utility target German retail power market

Shell, a brand well known to car owners throughout Germany, has expanded a partnership to provide households with gas and electricity in Europe’s biggest retail market.

The oil major’s supply and trading arm Shell Energy Europe and First Utility, a UK-based independent energy provider, on Wednesday unveiled Shell Privatenergie, a new household energy supplier that pools their energy sourcing and marketing powers.

“We are betting on a partnership with Shell as an energy company with a high ability to procure, as well as a high market strength,” Maik Neubauer, managing director of Hamburg-based First Utility GmbH, told Reuters.read more

Summary

* The Burger J well test results were a dud, no major reserves found.

* Dividend yield tops the 8% mark.

Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A / RDS.B) was always upbeat about the prospects of drilling in the Arctic, targeting resources that could be 10 times greater than the sum of oil and gas produced so far in the North Sea. Somewhat puzzling, the Anglo-Dutch multinational pressed on with its plans even though rivals Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM), BP (NYSE:BP), Chevron (NYSE:CVX) and ConocoPhilips (NYSE:COP) had all suspended activity in the area.

Christopher Adams, Ed Crooks and Jack Farchy

After nine difficult years and $7bn of spending, Royal Dutch Shell has admitted it has nothing to show for its contentious campaign to discover oil in the Arctic. As it pulled the plug on further drilling — announcing billions of dollars in likely losses — the prospects for a new frontier in exploration faded, too.

Royal Dutch Shell’s abrupt announcement today that it would cease all offshore drilling in the Arctic is surprising for several reasons. One is the unusual degree of confidence the company expressed as recently as mid-August that it had identified 15 billion barrels of oil beneath the well known as Burger J it’s now abandoning.

What on earth happened?

Mistaken geology

After spending $7 billion over several years to explore a single well this summer, Shell said in a statement that it “found indications of oil and gas … but these are not sufficient to warrant further exploration.” This contrasts sharply with Shell officials’ statements as recently as July and August that based on 3D and 4D seismic analysis of core samples, its petroleum geologists were “very confident” drillers would find plentiful oil.read more

As oil prices have continued their steady decline this year, rig after rig has been shut down, costing thousands of jobs in the United States. Yet major oil producers have been loath to pull the plug on their most ambitious projects — the multibillion-dollar investments that form the backbone of their operations.

Until now. On Monday, Royal Dutch Shell ended its expensive and fruitless nine-year effort to explore for oil in the Alaskan Arctic — a $7 billion investment — in another sign that the entire industry is trimming its ambitions in the wake of collapsing oil prices.read more

After a season spent drilling an exploratory oil well in one of the harshest environments on Earth, Royal Dutch Shell announced Monday morning it was abandoning its attempt to develop the Alaskan Arctic “for the foreseeable future.”

The exploratory well 150 miles offshore in the Chukchi Sea did not turn up enough oil to warrant the expensive and “unpredictable” enterprise, Shell said in a statement. It will be sealed and abandoned “in accordance with U.S. regulations,” the company said.read more

Royal Dutch Shell said Monday it will stop drilling for oil off Alaska’s coast. The move comes after Shell failed to discover a noteworthy amount of undersea oil in a well off northern Alaska despite spending $7 billion on exploration efforts.

The decision will undoubtedly please the many environmentalists who were against the project from the start. But their protests aren’t the reason Shell is calling it quits in Alaska. Instead, Shell’s decision was economic: The price of oil has dropped precipitously over the past year, meaning it’s getting much harder to make a profit on the stuff.read more

Barry Gardiner, Labour’s new shadow minister for energy and climate change, said Shell had been engaged in a fool’s errand. “(Potentially) desecrating one of the world’s last wildernesses shows a complete failure of moral leadership at the head of the company. If his investors are not calling for Ben van Beurden’s head, now that the company has suffered a $4.1bn loss then his board certainly should be.”

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Royal Dutch Shell has abandoned its long quest to become the first company to produce oil in Alaska’s Arctic waters, darkening the nation’s long-term oil prospects and delighting environmental groups that tried to block the project.

After years of effort, Shell is leaving the region “for the foreseeable future” because it failed to find enough oil to make further drilling worthwhile.

The company has spent more than $7 billion on the effort, slogged through a regulatory gauntlet and fought environmental groups that feared a spill in the harsh climate would be difficult to clean up and devastating to polar bears, walruses, seals and other wildlife.read more

To the delight of eco-warriors worldwide, Shell pulled the plug on its Arctic drilling campaign, taking a £2.7billion hit on the controversial venture that was persistently undermined by the prolonged oil price weakness and fierce opposition from ecological activists.

Although an exploratory well showed indications of oil and gas in Alaska’s Chukchi Sea, Shell blamed high costs associated with the project as well as the ‘challenging and unpredictable’ regulatory environment as it shelved its drilling plans for the foreseeable future.read more

Mon Sep 28, 2015 6:21am EDT

(Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell has abandoned its Arctic search for oil after failing to find enough crude, a move that will appease environmental campaigners and shareholders who said its project was too expensive and risky.

The withdrawal came six weeks after the final U.S. clearance and three months after Shell was still defending the project, a rapid change of heart for such a large company that showed it is preparing for a prolonged period of low oil prices while trying to close its $70 billion takeover of rival BG.read more

Royal Dutch Shell said early Monday that it was ceasing offshore oil and gas exploration in Arctic waters after a test well yielded unsatisfactory amounts of oil and gas.

The announcement was a huge blow to Shell, which was counting on offshore drilling in Alaska to help it drive future revenue and had poured billions in investment and years of work into the exploratory well. Environmentalists, however, had tried repeatedly to block the project, and welcome the news.

A statement from the company’s headquarters in The Hague said Shell was ending exploration off Alaska “for the forseeable future” after what it called “a clearly disappointing exploration outcome.”

Shell said it had found indications of oil and gas in the well in the Chukchi Sea, about 80 miles off Alaska’s northwest coast. However, the petroleum was not in quantities sufficient to warrant additional exploration in that portion of the basin, the company added.read more

WASHINGTON — After spending $7 billion and seven years searching for oil under Arctic waters, Royal Dutch Shell on Monday said its quest had come up dry.

Shell announced that its exploratory oil well in the Chukchi Sea north of Alaska encountered “indications of oil and gas” that are “not sufficient to warrant further exploration” — a significant blow for the Anglo-Dutch firm that had hoped to find a multibillion barrel crude reservoir in those remote waters.

“Shell continues to see important exploration potential in the basin, and the area is likely to ultimately be of strategic importance to Alaska and the U.S.,” said Marvin Odum, director of Shell Upstream Americas. “However, this is a clearly disappointing exploration outcome for this part of the basin.”read more

Christopher Adams, Energy Editor: Sept 28: 7.28am

Royal Dutch Shell has abandoned a contentious Arctic drilling campaign off the coast of Alaska and is preparing to take billions of dollars in writedowns after its exploration efforts failed to make a significant discovery.

However, the company said in a statement on Monday that while it had found “indications” of oil and gas, “these are not sufficient to warrant further exploration” in the area.

“Shell will now cease further exploration activity in offshore Alaska for the foreseeable future. This decision reflects both the Burger J well result, the high costs associated with the project, and the challenging and unpredictable federal regulatory environment in offshore Alaska,” it said.

Royal Dutch Shell PLC has said it is ceasing exploration in offshore Alaska for the foreseeable future, saying an exploratory well drilled to 6,800ft (2,100m) found oil and gas but not in sufficient quantities.

Shell USA’s president, Marvin Odum, said in an announcement early on Monday in the Netherlands that it was a disappointing outcome for that part of the Chukchi sea basin.

Shell drilled in 150ft (45m) of water about 80 miles (130km) off Alaska’s north-west coast. The exploratory well was the first in the Chukchi in 24 years.read more

With the declared April 2015 merger of Royal Dutch Shell and BG Group, formerly British Gas, a combination of assets spanning continents is occurring. The completion date of the merger in early 2016 has had some roadblocks. In Kazakhstan’s Karachaganak Field project, the combined group could lead to Shell to hold 29.5% by 2016. Despite this, the government of Kazakhstan may be blocking the transfer of shares.

The Karachaganak Field is a gas condensate field in northwestern Pre-Caspian Basin nearly one hundred miles east of Oral.The Field was discovered in 1979, with production starting in 1984. Upon independence, AGIP, currently Eni, and British Gas, now BG Group won exploitation rights. Thence, in 1997, Texaco (currently Chevron) and Russia’s Lukoil alongside the original signatories and two companies signed a production sharing agreement for forty years. BG Group and Eni possess 29.25% share a peace and Chevron has 18% and Lukoil has 13.%. Upon arbitration and a December 2011 acquisition, KazmunayGas purchased a 10% stake for two billion USD cash and one billion in non-cash consideration.read more

Bidness Etc discusses how European oil majors are impacted by the slowdown in the Chinese economy

The slowing Chinese economy has impacted the overall world economy and various other sectors. According to a Moody’s Investor service report EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa)’s mining sector is totally exposed to the economic crisis, followed by the oil and gas sector. Shipping, chemicals, and auto sector are considerably impacted while some other EMEA sectors including tobacco, telecoms, real estate, healthcare, and railways will be marginally impacted, since they are more regionally focused and their credit worthiness is not genuinely exposed.read more

Will Shell-funded Energy Transitions Commission help or hinder the low carbon economy?

Oil giant Shell is backing a new organisation that is being set up to lobby governments to step up their investments in low carbon technologies, with the twin aims of boosting economic growth and tackling climate change.

But the new Energy Transitions Commission, which is due to launch on Monday with €5m to €7m of funding, has already come under fire from some green groups who fear Shell may be using the initiative to further its own aims, particularly its controversial Arctic drilling programme.read more

Green Business| Thu Sep 24, 2015

Representatives from energy companies including oil heavyweights Shell and Statoil have joined forces to advise on making cleaner energy decisions, the latest push by energy firms to become more pro-active on climate issues.

Shell Chairman Chad Holliday, Statoil Vice-President Bjorn Otto Sverdrup and RWE Chief Executive Peter Terium are among a list of commissioners acting in a personal capacity to advise governments on how to change their energy markets without damaging the environment.read more

Shell expects LNG demand to rise by 5% every year over the next couple of decades while global gas demand is growing at 2%

Royal Dutch Shell, which set up a 5 million tonne LNG terminal at Hazira in Gujarat nearly a decade back, is targeting to grab a bigger share of the growing demand for imported gas in India. The Hague-based global energy giant is planning to set up a floating LNG facility on the east coast — at Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh.

Recently, Andhra Pradesh Gas Distribution Corporation (APGDC), GDF Suez, Shell and GAIL have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to set up a floating LNG terminal with an initial capacity of 5 mt, which could be doubled at a later stage. “We have been very constructively working on the project (LNG terminal) on the east coast. We really believe in the India gas market,” said Maaten Wetselaar, executive vice present for Shell Integrated Gas in Singapore.read more

Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A, RDS.B), BHP Billiton (NYSE:BHP) and GE are teaming up with the McKinsey consultancy and other large companies to advise governments on how to combat global warming without weakening their economies, Financial Times reports.

The companies also are backing a $6M “energy transitions commission” to create a blueprint for a greener global economy in the next 15 years.

But the commission, due to be formally unveiled at a conference in Texas on Monday, already is under fire from some environmental groups who ask if a body supported by fossil fuel companies can offer objective guidance on global warming.read more

A fresh drop in in oil prices and political instability in Brazil is making investors miss out on about $5.5 billion in Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s pending takeover of BG Group Plc.

BG closed on Monday at 990.4 pence, about 9.5 percent below Shell’s cash-and-stock offer. The difference in share prices in the deal — the largest in the energy sector in at least a decade — is wider than the average for other global acquisitions bigger than $10 billion, data compiled by Bloomberg show.read more

Interesting to read the two recent articles about Shell/Corrib on your site – Shell’s arrogance, plus their presumption of statutory and ministerial subservient compliance still reign supreme!

Shell could at least have made a cursory acknowledgement of a person’s right to recourse to law by way of Judicial Review of the two presumed consents but, once again, they would appear to know something the rest of us don’t.

I would much appreciate if you could draw your reader’s attention to a Shell to Sea petition addressed to the line Minister Alex White which asks/demands that he refuse Shell consent to operate their ‘Space Shuttle syndrome’ refinery at Ballinaboy. As this is of local, national and global significance, I hope many readers will sign it over the next two days.read more

Will Royal Dutch Shell plc (ADR) (RDS.A) Maintain Dividends?

Analysts are concerned that future of Royal Dutch Shell plc’s (ADR) (NYSE:RDS.A) dividend is under immense risk, and expressed concerns that Shell will not be able to deliver its promise of 7% dividend yield. Currently, the American Depository Receipts (ADR) of Shell offers a one-year forward dividend yield of 7.6%, with quarterly dividend payment of 47 cents per share.

The glut in crude supply, China’s economy weakening, and lowered crude demand from Asian and European market has led oil prices to fall from $116 per barrel last June to below $50 per barrel this summer. Share prices of most energy companies have slumped. Companies that were once expecting crude oil prices to recover soon are now taking a long term bearish view of the oil market.read more

BY KARA O’NEILL: 21 Sept 2015

A giant dying polar bear has been placed outside the headquarters of oil and gas company Shell in a bid to stop their Arctic drilling programme.

British actress Emma Thompson was among the protesters who manoeuvred the three-tone puppet into place, locking six people inside so the bear cannot be moved.

The bear, which is the size of a double decker bus, and is named Aurora (after the Northern Lights) is intended to sit outside the company’s headquarter in South Bank, London, until they cease their drilling.read more

By CORAL GARNICK: McClatchy News Service: 20 Sept 2015

SEATTLE — Shell Oil, preparing to return its offshore Arctic drilling fleet to Puget Sound as early as next month, has released a study saying that this year and next its controversial Alaska oil exploration program will pump $172.7 million directly into the Puget Sound economy.

That spending is expected to support 1,590 jobs and generate $125 million in wages and $312 million in total economic output, which includes direct, indirect and induced impacts, according to an economic impact study released Wednesday.read more

Sunday 20 September 2015

Ben van Beurden, the Shell chief executive, was on a media blitz last week trying to prop up sagging confidence in his ability to keep paying blue-chip dividends while expanding his empire at a time of very low oil prices. The planned takeover of BG Group is an important test of the Dutchman’s credibility in the City and on Wall Street, but an increasing number of analysts are questioning whether it makes sense with $50-a-barrel oil.

Some green campaigners seem to believe Shell boss Ben van Beurden would be happy dunking polar bears in thick, black crude oil if it helped make the planet even hotter.

But van Beurden, the 57-year-old engineer who has run Royal Dutch Shell for nearly two years and has given the company the green light to drill in Arctic waters, believes his view of the world’s future is considerably more honest than that of many environmentalists.

‘The amount of energy we consume is going to double in the first half of the century so we will have to supply twice as much as we do today as an industry. Most renewables produce electricity, and electricity is just 20 per cent of the energy mix. Where is the other 80 per cent going to come from?’ says the Dutchman.read more

If the oil price stays low, Shell’s van Beurden may have to eat his wordsPhoto: AFP

Ben van Beurden, chief executive of Royal Dutch Shell, is on a charm offensive to convince investors – and the press – that both the dividend is safe and the pending £45bn takeover of BG Group will proceed as planned. These promises attempt to address what is in essence the same underlying worry – the low oil price and its prospects for recovery.

In each case, the markets are plainly sceptical. Shares in Shell are on a barely believable yield of more than 7 per cent, indicating a high probability of a dividend cut to come, while BG shares trade on a discount of more than 10 per cent to the see through value of Shell’s offer.read more

“Thousands of buildings have been damaged in earthquakes caused by the ground settling after the gas has been removed. ‘NAM has continued to drill in Groningen even though it is well aware of the risks, and has put dozens of lives in danger…”

By John Donovan: Saturday 19 Sept 2015

A spokesperson for the Dutch Petroleum Company (NAM) – a joint venture between Royal Dutch Shell and ExxonMobil – confirmed earlier today that the Company is cutting 2,000 jobs.

The downsizing results from the collapse in oil and gas prices and concern over massive multi-billion dollar liability arising from the NAM induced earthquakes in Holland arising from gas extraction at the Groningen field.

RELATED

Top lawyer takes on NAM over Groningen quake dangers

High profile lawyer Gerard Spong has made a formal complaint against gas extraction company NAM, saying he holds it responsible for deliberately damaging houses and other property in Groningen province. read more

Shell Ireland has declared that the on-site work is now complete for the gas to flow from the Corrib Gas field.

Some of the more than 900 employees pictured during construction of the Corrib Gas Processing Terminal at Bellanaboy.

Irish Independent: By Gordon Deegan: Saturday 19 Sept 2015

Shell Ireland yesterday declared that on-site work is complete for gas to flow from the Corrib gas field.

Shell E&P Ireland confirmed that from a technical point of view, production of gas can now start – 19 years after gas was discovered in the gas field off the coast of Mayo.

However, the Corrib Gas Partners cannot commence production until two separate permits are granted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Dept of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources.read more

Total and Shell have been given the green light to build 100 gas stations across Iran in the near future, after approval by government officials. This will be the first time foreign branded gas stations will operate in the country.

The 100 gas stations, which also received the approval from Bijan Haj Mohammad Reza, the chairman of the trade union of Iran’s filling station, will spread across different Iranian regions, according to Iranian news website Oilnews.

“For the first time Iran’s Petroleum Ministry will give permission for the construction of gasoline stations under any brand in the country,” he said.read more

The short drilling season for oil exploration in U.S. Arctic offshore waters will reach one stopping point Sept. 28 and a complete halt Oct. 31 for Royal Dutch Shell Plc. The company has been drilling since July 30 at the Burger prospect in the Chukchi Sea north of Alaska. If oil is discovered, it will require some very interesting and complicated development decisions and regulatory considerations.

Shell has come a long way to get this far. It acquired a set of leases over the Burger prospect in 2008 and has spent about $7 billion on trying to develop the leases. Shell, operating through its subsidiary Shell Gulf of Mexico Inc., did not report a discovery from the well it drilled in 2012, and no one has ever yet discovered oil in the Chukchi — not oil in commercial quantities, at any rate. A dry hole is always a possibility.read more

By DAN JOLING: 18 Sept 2015

Actors Alexander Skarsgard of “True Blood” and Jack McBrayer of “30 Rock,” along with Andy Bichlbaum of “The Yes Men” activists, are on a Greenpeace ship in the Greenland Sea with a team from the Funny or Die production company to make a comedy series focused on industrial threats to the Arctic.read more

As New-Age Style Came In,Geology Skills Lost Out;Imitating Jerry Springer Oilmen at a Rainy Playground

By CHIP CUMMINS and ALMAR LATOUR
Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: November 2, 2004

In late 2000, the head of the Dutch exploration unit at Royal Dutch/Shell Group asked his planners to deliver five-minute skits pitching ideas for discovering oil and gas.

In one skit, a naked employee ran on stage to catch the boss’s attention, say two people who attended. Another featured a mock episode of the Jerry Springer show, the incendiary daytime TV talk program. A third, after a bit of fun and games, promised to extract large quantities of natural gas cheaply from seemingly declining Dutch fields.

Long known for its sober geological expertise and conservative image, the Anglo-Dutch energy giant in the 1990s embraced New Age management. At other meetings, managers were told to shake their arms up and down in “energizer” exercises or stare into the eyes of colleagues while confiding their innermost thoughts, say attendees.

This cultural revolution ultimately led Shell into one of the worst crises in its history as the company turned to accounting maneuvers to hide its failures in finding energy. This year it admitted that it dramatically overstated its oil and gas reserves.read more

Tim Treadgold, CONTRIBUTOR

Shareholders in Royal Dutch Shell ngIf: ticker will be uncertain whether they should thank, or criticize, the Australian Government’s competition regulator for threatening the proposed $70 billion merger with rival oil and gas producer, BG Group ngIf: ticker .

On one hand, a deal which could transform Shell is being threatened. On the other hand, missing out on BG could be the best result for Shell.

The problem is that BG’s primary appeal to Shell is that the target, once known as British Gas, is heavily exposed to liquefied natural gas (LNG), a fuel moving into a period of significant over-supply and potentially lower prices, at least in the short term.read more

Regulators may be moving toward sending antitrust complaint

Probe began two years ago with raids on BP, Shell and Statoil

Major oil companies including Royal Dutch Shell Plc and price publisher Platts were told by regulators to redact business secrets from documents obtained during antitrust raids in a sign the European Union may be moving ahead with a two-year-old probe, according to four people familiar with the investigation.

The redaction request could be a precursor to the European Commission sending a formal complaint, or statement of objections, to some of the firms, said the people who asked not to be named because the investigation into fuel-benchmark rigging isn’t public.read more

In 2010, I published an article revealing that four years earlier, U.S. authorities had launched an investigation into alleged industrial espionage by Shell Oil Company.

I contacted Shell at the time, but the then Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer for the company refused to comment.

A related court case is currently underway. A link is provided to documents filed today IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: Case 1:14-cv-02139-KBJ. Shell is not currently involved.read more

At Royal Dutch Shell’s operations center in Anchorage, the cries of outrage that greeted the start of offshore drilling in the Arctic are drowned out by optimism.

The energy giant’s president, Marvin Odum, told NBC News that he’s confident that the $7 billion already spent to find oil under the sea — a bet that no other company is making in the American Arctic — was the right business decision.

And he says he’s also certain that Shell can handle any accident that might unfold during exploration or extraction, which wouldn’t even happen until 2030.read more

If Shell’s Chukchi Sea drilling operations manage to penetrate underground rock formations in waters off Alaska’s north coast this season and don’t find oil, that could be the end of the company’s controversial Arctic efforts, according to a report from the BBC.

“Our plan for the Arctic is to find out whether there is any oil in the Chukchi Sea,” Shell CEO Ben van Beurden told the British news outlet.

“We are in the middle of that drilling campaign and we have to see at the end of the season whether we get into the reservoir. If these results are conclusively no, then it will probably be the end of the road for our Alaska adventure.”read more

Royal Dutch Shell’s takeover of rival BG Group has been postponed, after Australian regulators voiced concerns about the potential impact on domestic gas supplies.

In a statement today, Rod Sims, chairman of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), claimed the deal was not in the best interests of Australian consumers, as it might result in a greater proportion of east coast supplies being exported.

He said:

If the proposed acquisition resulted in less supply of gas to the domestic market, therefore, this could substantially lessen competition to supply domestic gas users and lead to higher domestic prices and more restrictive contractual terms.read more

As it moves, gingerly, through the first stages of exploration 70 miles off the Alaskan coast, Royal Dutch Shell has revealed its commitment to drilling in the Arctic.

And how long it will be before any oil or gas actually comes out of the ground – if at all.

Despite environmental concerns and the low oil price, Ben van Beurden, Shell’s chief executive, told me that as the world’s energy demands increased, the hunt for new resources was as important as ever.

The Arctic, he points out, has long been a source of oil and gas production. Environmental safety would be the priority, he insisted.read more

Commodities| Thu Sep 17, 2015

* Regulator raises domestic gas supply, price concerns

* ACCC to issue final decision on Nov. 12

* Shell says still expects to complete deal in Q1 2016

MELBOURNE, Sept 17 (Reuters) – Australia’s competition watchdog flagged concerns on Thursday that Royal Dutch Shell’s proposed $70 billion takeover of BG Group may lessen gas supply competition in eastern Australia and delayed a final decision on the bid to November.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said a large number of market participants had expressed concerns that the proposed takeover may lead Shell’s Arrow Energy to sell its gas into BG’s Queensland Curtis liquefied natural gas plant (QCLNG) for export.read more

Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s $70 billion deal to buy BG Group Plc could reduce the supply of natural gas to local customers in Australia and boost prices, according to the nation’s competition regulator, which delayed a decision on the agreement until November.

The transaction may decrease the incentive for Shell’s Arrow Energy venture with PetroChina Co. to feed gas to the domestic market, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission wrote in a statement on Thursday. That’s because it would allow Shell to send the Arrow supplies to BG’s Queensland Curtis liquefied natural gas project on the east coast, which is super-cooling the fuel for export to customers in Asia.read more

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500 EXTERNAL PUBLICATIONS CITING OUR WEBSITES

See our link list of 477 articles by the FT, Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Bloomberg, Forbes, Dow Jones Newswires, New York Times, CNBC etc, plus UK House of Commons Select Committee Hansard records, information on U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission websiteetc. all containing references to our Shell focussed websites, or our website founders Alfred and John Donovan. Includes TV documentary features in English and German, newspaper and magazine articles, radio interviews, newsletters etc. Plus academic papers, Stratfor intelligence reports and UK, U.S. and Australian state/parliamentary publications, also citing our Shell websites. Click on this link to see the entire list, all in date order with a link to an index of 64 books also containing references to our websites and/or our activities.
John Donovan, the website ownerHead-cut image of Alfred Donovan appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.

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This is not a Shell website, nor is it officially endorsed by or affiliated with Royal Dutch Shell.
There are no subscription charges nor do we solicit or accept donations.

SHELL PRELUDE TO DISASTER

The links below are to a series of articles, many triggered by a well-placed whistleblower directly involved in the pioneering Royal Dutch Shell Prelude project. Includes articles by Mr Bill Campbell above, the retired distinguished HSE Group Auditor of Shell International and another retired Shell guru with a track record of spotting potential pitfalls in major Shell projects.

NAZI NAMED SHIP HIRED BY SHELL

The campaign waged on this website by John Donovan to persuade Edward Heerema to rename the worlds biggest ship, The Pieter Schelte - which he named after his late father, Pieter Schelte Heerema, a former Officer in the German Waffen-SS - has been successful. On Friday 6 February 2015, Allseas announced that it was changing the ships name, and on 9 February announced the new name - Pioneering Spirit.

ROYAL DUTCH SHELL EMPLOYEE DATA BREACH

GLOBAL NEWS COVERAGE: FEBRUARY 2010
MORE INFORMATION: Contact details for over 176,000 employees and contractors of Royal Dutch Shell reached John Donovan and some environmental and human rights groups, ostensibly from disaffected Shell staff calling for a “peaceful corporate revolution” at the company. The database, from Shell’s internal directory, contained names and telephone numbers for all the company’s work force worldwide, including some home numbers. It was supplied with a 170­ page covering note, explaining that it was being circulated by “116 concerned employees of Shell dispersed throughout the USA, the UK, and the Netherlands”, to highlight the harm done by the company’s operations in Nigeria. John Donovan brought the leak to the attention of Shell. Tests proved that the data was authentic and he destroyed the database after being informed by Mr. Richard Wiseman, the then Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer of Royal Dutch Shell Plc, that the confidential information if publicly disclosed, could put Shell employees and contractors in real danger.

SHELL’S ROLE IN NIGERIAN OPL 245 BRIBERY SCANDAL

Whatever fig leaves they might be trying to use to hide the truth, Shell and Eni paid over $1bn to a company called Malabu for the OPL 245 licence. Even though the payment was channelled through the Nigerian government, it was clear that Shell knew that the ultimate beneficiary was Dan Etete, the former minister of petroleum. Etete is the owner of Malabu, to whom he awarded the licence when he was Nigerian Minister of Petroleum.

SHELL PERSECUTION OF DR JOHN HUONG

SHELL SAKHALIN2 DEBACLE

NAZI HISTORY OF ROYAL DUTCH SHELL

Royal Dutch Shell conspired directly with Hitler, financed the Nazi Party, was anti-Semitic and sold out its own Dutch Jewish employees to the Nazis. Shell had a close relationship with the Nazis during and after the reign of Sir Henri Deterding, an ardent Nazi, and the founder and decades long leader of the Royal Dutch Shell Group. His burial ceremony, which had all the trappings of a state funeral, was held at his private estate in Mecklenburg, Germany. The spectacle (photographs below) included a funeral procession led by a horse drawn funeral hearse with senior Nazis officials and senior Royal Dutch Shell directors in attendance, Nazi salutes at the graveside, swastika banners on display and wreaths and personal tributes from Adolf Hitler and Reichsmarschall, Hermann Goring. Deterding was an honored associate and supporter of Hitler and a personal friend of Goring.
Deterding was the guest of Hitler during a four day summit meeting at Berchtesgaden. Sir Henri and Hitler both had ambitions on Russian oil fields. Only an honored personal guest would be rewarded with a private four day meeting at Hitler’s mountain top retreat.

MORE INFORMATION
Shell appeased and collaborated with the Nazis. The oil giant instructed its employees in the Netherlands to complete a form giving particulars about their descent, which for some, amounted to a self-declared death warrant. Shell used slave labor and was a close business partner in Germany of I.G. Farben, the notorious Nazi run chemical giant that also used slave labor and supplied the Zyklon-B gas used during the Holocaust to exterminate millions of people, including children. Shell continued the partnership with the Nazis in the years after the retirement of Sir Henri and even after his death. It was money generated on Shell forecourts around the world, profiteering from cartel oil prices, that funded the Nazi party and saved it from financial collapse. Evidence about Shell's Nazi connections can be found in extracts from "A History of Royal Dutch Shell" Volumes 1 and 2 authored by historians paid by Shell, who had unrestricted access to Shell archives. There are 67 pages in total, so takes some time to download.

Photograph (full size here) shows a Swastika flag flying at the head office of Royal Dutch Petroleum, 30 Carel van Bylandtlaan, The Hague, during the Nazi occupation of the in World War II (From Image Database Hague Municipal)

Sir Henri Deterding, the founder of the Royal Dutch Shell Group - known as "The Most Powerful Man in the World" - who became an ardent Nazi and financial supporter of Hitler and the Nazi party.

SHELL ANIMAL EXPERIMENTS

SHELL IP PIRACY

Reading between the lines in various legal documents, it seems that the allegations are that after the technology in question had been disclosed to a Shell company in the USA, the information was passed to Shell in the Netherlands in breach of confidentiality. And Royal Dutch Shell subsequently exploited the technology without payment or credit to the company holding the rights; Newton Research Partners. The inference seems to be that Twister B.V. was founded by Shell partly on trade secrets stolen from Bloom/Newton.

WEBSITE INFORMATION

DISCLAIMER: This is not a Shell website nor is it officially endorsed by or affiliated with Royal Dutch Shell Plc. Originally co-founded by the late Alfred Donovan and his son John, it is now operated by John, Shell's "No.1 Enemy", aided by an expert team, with invaluable support from retired Shell senior executives and officials as guest contributors and leaked information from Shell insiders.(JOHN DONOVAN, WEBSITE OWNER)For nearly a decade, we have operated globally under the Royal Dutch Shell Plc top level domain name, dealing on Shell’s reluctant behalf with job applications, business proposals, Shell pension enquiries, shareholder enquiries, complaints, invitations to speak at conferences, an approach from the Dutch Defence Ministry and even terrorist threats. All meant for Shell. Prospect magazine has aptly described this website as being:"An open wound for Shell":WIPO proceedings by Shell to seize the domain name failed.NO SUBSCRIPTION CHARGES: All of our watchdog activities monitoring Royal Dutch Shell, including operating this website, are carried out on a non-profit basis. Any advertising revenues generated are used to recover and/or defray operational costs. We are a news aggregator and original content website. All information is available free for educational and research purposes. SHELL TACIT ENDORSEMENT: WHAT A WELL INFORMED SHELL OFFICIAL SAID ABOUT US:
"John and Alfred Donovan well known in UK/Hague. They perceive Shell played them and so have made it their mission to embarrass,belittle and criticize Shell, which they do quite well. Their website, royaldutchshellplc.com is an excellent source of group news and comment and I recommend it far above what our own group internal comms puts out."
WARNING TO SHELL EMPLOYEES: Shell Global Affairs Security "CAS") is spying on Shell employees globally trying to trace who is visiting, posting, or leaking information to this website from Shell premises. Threats, including death threats, have allegedly been made against conscience driven Shell whistleblowers supplying us with information. The worlds biggest leak of employee details as part of a claimed corporate revolution by 116 Shell employees, suggest the espionage operation, threats and draconian litigation have not been entirely successful in cutting off the supply of information to this website. The insider leaks had already cost Shell billions on the Sakhalin Energy project and the loss of SEIC Deputy Chairman, David Greer.We publish our own carefully researched articles about Shell e.g. "How Royal Dutch Shell saved Hitler and the Nazi Party".MEDIA COVERAGE: Prospect Magazine, The Sunday Times, and The Guardian, have all published major articles about us: "Rise of the Gripe Site";"Two men and a website mount vendetta against Shell' and "92-year-old's website leaves oil giant Shell-shocked”. SHELL PETROL STATION images displayed in the website header panel are licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Information on copyright issues here.
John Donovan can be contacted at [email protected]

SHELL’S $500,000 WEDDING GIFT TO CORRUPT BRUNEI ROYAL FAMILY

EXTRACT FROM ASIAN JOURNAL ARTICLE IN LIST OF LINKS BELOW: "Fireworks will light up the sky for three nights. The local unit of oil giant Royal Dutch Shell has donated 500,000 Brunei dollars (US$292,400; euro 243,700) for the display, and for cultural events to be hosted by popular performers from Malaysia."

BILL CAMPBELL WHISTLEBLOWER EMAIL TO MP’S

IN JULY 2007, MR BILL CAMPBELL (ABOVE, A RETIRED GROUP AUDITOR OF SHELL INTERNATIONAL SENT AN EMAIL TO EVERY UK MP AND MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS:

THIS IS WHAT IT SAID:

Subject: This could be the most important whistleblower email you have ever received.

Some unfortunate Royal Dutch Shell workers have already lost their lives. More lives are at stake.

My name is Bill Campbell. I am a former Group Auditor of Shell International. I am writing to you on a matter of conscience in an effort to avert the inevitability of another major accident in the North Sea. The consequences could potentially impact on families in many constituencies, including your own.

As Royal Dutch Shell and the Health & Safety Executive would acknowledge, I am an expert on safety matters relating to offshore oil and gas platforms. In 1999, I was appointed by Shell to lead a safety audit on the Brent Bravo platform. The audit revealed a platform management culture that basically gave a higher priority to production than the safety of Shell employees. To our astonishment we discovered that a "Touch F*** All" policy was in place. Worse still, safety records were routinely falsified and repairs bodged.

I personally brought the shocking situation to the attention of senior management including Malcolm Brinded, the then Managing Director of Shell Exploration & Production. I revealed that ESDV leak-off tests were purposely falsified, not once but many times and that Brent Bravo platform management had admitted responsibility for the dangerous practices being followed. In response to my team ringing alarm bells, management pledged to rectify the serious problems which had been uncovered.

When I later complained that the pledges were not being kept, I was removed from my oversight function.

Four years later, a massive gas leak occurred on the platform. Two workers lost their lives. I have no doubt at all that the inaction of the relevant Asset Manager, the General Manager, the Oil Director and Malcolm Brinded, contributed in some part to the unlawful killing of two persons on Brent Bravo in September 2003.

Shell subsequently pleaded guilty to breaches of the HSE regulations and a record-breaking £900,000 fine was imposed. I thought this would bring about a real change in policy to put the emphasis on safety.

Unfortunately I was wrong. Although I supplied the evidence related to 1999, and the fact that there had been a collapse in controls of integrity from 1999 to 2003 on all 16 of Shell's North Sea offshore installations covered in a post fatality integrity review to the HSE for review by the Procurator Fiscal, none of this evidence was presented before the Sheriff at the subsequent Inquiry. The situation is explained in a letter to the Procurator Fiscal and the Sheriff (on 24th February 2007).

Shell management has engaged in spin to try to pretend that it is getting to grips with its safety problem. However, its atrocious safety record - the worst in the North Sea in terms of accidental deaths and absolute number of enforcement actions – tells a different story. This fact has resulted in a number of newspaper articles.

I have had meetings with senior Shell people including its CEO Mr. Jeroen van der Veer. I regret to say that I have found him to be economical with the truth. He prefers to support cover-up and deceit rather than confronting the underlying problems. Brinded is now Executive Director of Shell Exploration & Production. He believes in burying evidence.

My family and friends would probably prefer me to give up on this matter and enjoy my retirement after so many years working for Shell.

However, by writing to every MP in the UK, no one can ever say that I did not do my best to avert an inevitable further major accident event in the North Sea. When it happens (I pray that I am wrong) I will make this warning communication available to the media together with the vast amount of evidence in my possession.

At least my conscience is clear. I have done everything possible to ring the alarm bells about Shell management and its unscrupulous attitude to the safety of its employees.

Yours sincerely
Bill Campbell

ENDS

(Malcolm Brinded and Jeroen van der Veer are no longer with Shell. The Oil Director referred to in the email is Chris Finlayson, who left Shell to become Chief Executive of British Gas before being fired - his photo immediately below)

SHELL RESERVES FRAUD

SIR PHILIP WATTS, THE GROUP CHAIRMAN OF ROYAL DUTCH SHELL GROUP, FORCED TO RESIGN IN 2004

Shell’s reputation was destroyed in 2004 after FIVE consecutive cuts to its hydrocarbon reserves covering 55% of its total reserves. US and UK financial regulators imposed $150 million in fines on Shell for securities fraud. Shell was also rocked by class action lawsuits.Sir Philip Watts
and Walter van de Vijver (whose headcut images appear courtesy of The Wall Street Journal) were among the Shell executives forced to resign. More details at the foot of this column.
MORE DETAILS: The Shell reserves scandal brought about
the end of the Royal Dutch Shell Group in its original form as an Anglo-Dutch partnership.
Shell Transport & Trading Co and Royal Dutch Petroleum were unified into a single Dutch owned company - Royal Dutch Shell Plc.
Sir Philip turned to religion and is now a very wealthy priest after receiving a payoff/pension package from Shell reportedly worth $18.5 million. Walter van de Vijver in contrast was the victim of a sadistic sacking by his Shell senior management backstabbing colleagues.

by John Donovan

Displayed below are some of the spectacular promotional campaigns my company Don Marketing created for Shell in the 1980s and 1990s. This was before the series of SIX high court actions we brought against Shell for stealing ideas (4) and for defamation (2) - all settled by Shell. This website is a permanent response by me to the malicious underhand tactics, including treachery, espionage and intimidation, used by Shell during and after the bouts of litigation. More information is printed at the foot of this column.
MORE DETAILS: After a solicitor acting for Shell threatened to make the litigation "drawn out and difficult" with the intention of draining the resources of a financially weaker opponent, my late father (Alfred Donovan) and I decided to mount a wide-ranging campaign as a counter-measure. We jointly founded the Shell Corporate Conscience Pressure Group, which nearly 15% of Shell UK retailers joined. We regularly conducted ethical surveys involving up to 1500 Shell petrol stations. All responses were opened and authenticated by an independent solicitor who supplied Affidavits confirming the results. In whole page announcements in trade magazines (examples above) we challenged Shell to commission and publish the resuits of independent research asking the same questions and offering respondents GUARANTEED anonymity. Shell never took up the invitation. Instead it asked the UK Advertising Standards Authority to investigate our Shell surveys. No problems were found. The head-cut image of Alfred Donovan appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.

SHELL CONTROVERSIES

selection of memorable warnings/articles/images associated with the controversial track record of Royal Dutch Shell.

WARNING: DO NOT DISCLOSE YOUR IDEAS TO SHELL GameChanger OR SHELL Ideas360 WITHOUT TAKING EVERY POSSIBLE PRECAUTION. Shell management has ample funds to pay for intellectual property but prefers to steal it from small businesses and in our experience, gives its full backing to dishonest managers willing to do its bidding. We have sued Shell repeatedly in the High Court for the theft of our Intellectual Property. It is doubtful if anyone can match our dire experience in dealing with this ruthless unscrupulous serial poacher of other parties ideas. Expect threats, legal machinations and sinister action from Shell and its spooks if you object to having your ideas stolen.

Some years ago extensive documentary evidence was brought to the attention of Malcolm Brinded above, when he was Chairman of Shell UK, proving beyond any doubt that Shell executives had conspired to rig a tender for a major contract. A number of innocent firms were deliberately lured into signing confidentiality agreements and disclosing Intellectual Property to Shell under false pretences, in a carefully contrived plot. The firm which was awarded the contract never took part in the tender. One objective of the Machiavellian plan was to stop/delay IP trade secrets owned by the participants in the tender from being disclosed to Shell's rivals. This was achieved by outright deception, without paying a cent to the firms involved, who wrongly believed they were participating in an honest tender. Instead of sacking the ring leader, AJL - who had a personal relationship with the firm which miraculously won the race in which it never ran - Shell senior directors, including Brinded, gave AJL their full backing. Some of the Shell executives involved, including for example, Tim Hannagan, still hold high positions inside Shell - in his case, Global Brand and Visual Identity Manager. If Shell does not accept that this is a true, provable account of what happened, then it should sue for libel. How on earth is such predatory conduct compatible with Shell's claimed business principles?